This week, we asked Wealthy Retirement readers to share the stories of their most profitable trades and trading strategies. We were pleased to hear that so many of our readers had been successful in the market.

Some wins were recent…

“Sold Dollar General (NYSE: DG) today for a 100% profit!!”

“YES. New Oxford Club Member. Up 16% upon your suggestion.”

Others were long-term plays…

“Yes. The trade was on Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). The shares were held for two years and sold for a 150% gain.”

“I bought the stock of a company that had some upside potential and sold it when it was about 40% up, that’s all there was to it… I’ll ride that same company again when it’s time.”

Still more readers wrote in to share that they had scored profits on companies in every industry, from shipping ($7,000 profits from UPS (NYSE: UPS)) to tech, precious metals, financials and even jewelry.

And like our readers, our financial experts here at Wealthy Retirement are no strangers to success.

Last spring, Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld shared one of his favorite wins from the biotech sector: the pharmaceutical maker AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), which offered impressive profits both as a short-term trade and a long-term income investment.

On March 6, 2017, when I recommended it, the price was $63.22. At the same time, for investors who really wanted to go for big gains, I suggested the AbbVie January $75 calls at $1.18.

We exited the stock on February 1, 2018, at a price of $112.44, for a total return (including dividends) of 81%.

The options play was even bigger. When we sold that position on January 19, 2018, the calls were trading at $29.28, another huge gain.

But I also recommended the stock for long-term investors.

How to Earn Your Laurels

Earning your spot among America’s successful investors begins with developing a strategy – and sticking to it. Here at Wealthy Retirement, we recommend building out your portfolio with a healthy mix of companies with different market caps, industries and levels of risk.

Be sure to include Perpetual Dividend Raisers and blue chip bonds in order to generate income while your other assets appreciate.